Author: Thomas Verschoren(page 2 of 76)

It’s a weird WWDC this year. On one hand Apple released tons of features. On the other hand there were only a few big tickets items.

All in all I’d summarize as: Apple went for all the low hanging fruit this year, filling obvious blanks in their platforms but they left the big changes for another time.

Highlights

The biggest change for iOS will be the Shortcuts app. Integrating Workflow into Siri and seriously expanding upon the Sirikit capabilities.

Marco Arment hoped for “tell App to do thing” during last weeks ATP.fm. This is basically it.

Speaking of Podcasts, the availability of the app on watchOS was long overdue and will make going out without your iPhone a lot more fun. This combined with the automated Workout detection are two cool new features for the Apple Watch.

I’m not a big macOS fan but I can’t wait for the Finder Actions to come to iOS. Desktop stacks on Mac feel like they belong in the iPads home screen too. Replacing the app grid with documents and widgets and moving all apps to the iPad dock seems a logical move someday.

The iPad also got a little love. Control center is now an overlay of the home screen. The menubar is less cluttered and contains a date now. And the combined notifications are yet again an example of finally.

Wishlist

I had a wishlist. Let’s see how I did:

✖️New reminders app that forgets the cards concept

✔️Integration for third party apps in Siri watch face

✖️iOS Safari Desktop Mode which would makes site backends like Squarespace or Zendesk finally work.

I’m not the first to write about 1Password, and I certainly won’t be the last. But if you don’t already use 1Password to manage your passwords, logins and licenses, download the latest release and give it a spin. You won’t regret it.

I currently have a Team account running for Work, and a Family Account shared between me and my wife. Honestly, I’d have no idea how my IT Team could work without shared vaults. One Time Passwords, SSH keys and certificates safely shared and available to all team members, continuously updated? That alone is worth its money.

“By the way, here is an important lesson about delegation: remember that everyone else is also most productive when they’re doing what they like, and do what you’d want other people to do for you—try to figure out who likes (and is good at) doing what, and delegate that way.

If you find yourself not liking what you’re doing for a long period of time, seriously consider a major job change. Short-term burnout happens, but if it isn’t resolved with some time off, maybe it’s time to do something you’re more interested in.”

— Sam Altman

Some things you read resonate more than others. This one gave me the final push to quit my job last week.

I know a couple of friends who have disabled iMessage in their iCloud backups because they don’t fit in that pesky 5GB limit.

Since users who have iCloud Backup enabled and have a 2FA iCloud account get automatically enrolled into iCloud Messages, surely Apple has foreseen the fact that tens of thousands of users’ iCloud Storage limits will cry out in terror and backups will be suddenly silenced?

So now I wonder.. what if Apple releases Messages in iCloud at WWDC18 combined with an increased storage limit for iCloud? 50GB instead of 5GB should do nicely and is a nice way of showing off iCloud Messages during WWDC18 without making it a rehash of last years backup by reframing it within an iCloud upgrade:

“iCloud now has a 50GB limit. BOOM. Perfect to store all your messages, photos and documents in the cloud and synced across devices.’

Apple ended their AirPort product line today. Long overdue if you ask me. There were good products at their time, but with a lack of improvements and updates they’re ways behind the more modern mesh networks.

You know that phrase: turn your hobby into your job and you’ll never work another day? Yeah, I was naive enough to believe that too.

But when the company you work for suddenly changes culture, your once purposeful and fulfilling job may turn into something cumbersome and mentally tiring. And bit by bit your hobby — the thing that you’re passionate about — starts to feel like work.

Work and life really are polar opposites. They attract and repel and are never really in balance.